Fore-Edge Painting: The Art of Hiding Images on Page Edges

Since 1970, "book craftsman" Martin Frost has been practicing the forgotten art of fore-edge painting. This is a technique whereby a hardcover book is placed in a special vise/press, like so…

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…enabling Frost to work the spread edges of the pages like a canvas.

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Once returned to its normal disposition, the book then has the page edges gilded.

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That hides the image from all except those who know they exist, who can then bend the pages to make the image appear.

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Here are some examples of Frost's work:

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The technique was developed in the 1600s, and unsurprisingly few people practice it today. In addition to selling his work, Frost teaches fore-edge painting workshops in an effort to keep the art alive.

I was particularly interested in the press he uses, and dismayed to see that locking it down makes a damned terrible racket: